*apologies for any cross posting*

European Association of Leisure and Tourism Education ATLAS 
10th Anniversary International Conference 
- Tourism, Innovation and Regional Development Dublin Institute of 
Technology, Ireland, 4th-6th October 2001


Parallel International Workshop on MARINE ECOTOURISM 


Preliminary Call for Abstracts

A parallel workshop on marine ecotourism is being hosted as 
part of a transnational research project  - Marine 
Ecotourism for the Atlantic Area (META-). META- is 
part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (via 
the Interreg IIc Programme) and the UK Department for the 
Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The workshop 
expects to contribute usefully, within a marine ecotourism 
context, to the emerging debate surrounding the 
UN-sponsored International Year of Ecotourism, scheduled 
for 2002.

Marine ecotourism has often been identified as a possible 
response to the economic problems faced by peripheral 
coastal communities. It can be seen as tourism based on the 
sustainable use of the natural marine environment. The 
range of activities involved includes marine and 
coastal-based activities such as viewing whales and 
dolphins, seabird ornithology, diving, leisure boating, 
yachting and sightseeing, as well as land-based activities 
such as visiting marine and coastal interpretation centres, 
viewing coastal seascapes, beach walking and rockpooling. 

Many coastal communities are now turning to marine 
ecotourism as part of their regeneration strategy. The 
development of marine ecotourism represents an important 
route by which the quality (including environmental 
quality) of the tourism products provided by peripheral 
communities may be improved. Marine ecotourism also has the 
potential to re-deploy some of the infrastructure and 
resources formerly employed by the local sea fishing and 
tourism industries. However, there is a growing awareness 
that this form of tourism is not intrinsically sustainable. 
Indeed, experience suggests that unless tourism activity of 
any kind is properly planned and managed, it risks 
compromising the economic, social and/or environmental 
components of the sustainability of an area. Tourism also 
has the potential, through its transport implications, to 
harm the global environment. This recognition demands that 
strategies of appropriate co-management of the activity and 
the spatial environment in which marine ecotourism takes 
place be established to make the activity as a whole more 
sustainable.

Papers are invited from researchers, educators and 
practitioners from the broad range of academic and 
professional disciplines that relate to the marine 
ecotourism field. In addition, papers from 
postgraduate researchers (including work in progress) will 
be particularly welcomed and considered as 'working 
papers'. 

· Abstracts to be a minimum of 200 words 
· Papers will be presented in plenary and parallel sessions 
and poster papers will be displayed in the exhibition area 
· A selection of papers will be published in the conference 
proceedings, which will be edited and distributed
· Abstracts must be submitted by April 30th, 2001
· Full papers and Poster Presentations must be submitted by 
July 1st 2001
· An international committee drawn from educational and 
industry interests will shortlist the papers to be presented
· All papers will be reviewed and selected through a blind 
read process
· The working language of the conference is English

Please forward abstracts, papers and future enquiries about 
the ATLAS 10th Anniversary International Conference and the 
parallel International Workshop on Marine Ecotourism by 
mail or e-mail to:

Dr. Joseph Ruddy & Dr. Sheila Flanagan

Faculty of Tourism and Food
Dublin Institute of Technology
Cathal Brugha St
Dublin 1
Phone: +353-1-4024378 and Fax: +353-1-4024499
E-Mail 
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Marine Ecotourism for The Atlantic Area META-
an EU Interreg iiC project
Bristol Group for Tourism Research
Room 3Q29 Frenchay Campus
University of the West of England, Bristol
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol BS16 1QY
Tel 0117 344 3372 (Voicemail)
Fax 0117 976 3895
Email: [log in to unmask]

*************************************
* http://www.tourism-research.org   *
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Dr Neil Carr
Dept. of Tourism and Leisure Management
The University of Queensland
11 Salisbury Road
Ipswich
Qld 4305
Australia
Tel: +61 7 3381 1319
Fax: +61 7 3381 1012
Email: [log in to unmask]
Owner of tourismanthropology discussion group